Game artist and animator job descriptions and salary ranges in the UK.

Job Title/Salary

Alternative Titles

Job Description

Art Director £45,000-£70,000

Creative Director

The Art Director is responsible for the overall look and feel of the game. Working with the Game Designer in the first instance, the Art Director devises the game’s visual style and directs the production of all visual material throughout the game’s development. The Art Director may produce much of the initial artwork themselves, setting creative and technical standards and also determining the best tools and techniques to deploy.

Art Manager £35,000-£55,000

Head Artist, Head of Art

In conjunction with the producer, the Art Manager puts together and manages the team of artists and animators who produce the bulk of the art assets for the game (including environments, characters, objects and effects) under the Art Director’s direction. The Lead Artist must ensure that the art and animation team works to schedule and within budget. They also work closely with the programming team to make sure that all art and animation assets produced can be easily imported into the game engine.

Lead Artist £35,000-£45,000

Lead 3D ArtistLead Concept ArtistLead ModellerLead Character Artist

The Lead Artist will manage Graphic Artists that create the visual elements of a game, such as characters, scenery, objects, vehicles, surface textures, clothing, props, and even user interface components.

Senior Artists create the visual elements of a game, such as characters, scenery, objects, vehicles, surface textures, clothing, props, and even user interface components. Artists also create concept art and storyboards which help communicate the proposed visual elements during the pre-production phase. A minimum of three years experience as a Graphic Artist would be expected. They may supervise other artists as part of a project team.

Graphic Artist £20,000-£30,000

3D Artist,Concept ArtistStoryboard Artist3D Modeller

Texture Artist

Environment Artist

Character Artist

GUI Artist

Graphic Artists create the visual elements of a game, such as characters, scenery, objects, vehicles, surface textures, clothing, props, and even user interface components. Graphic Artists also create concept art and storyboards which help communicate the proposed visual elements during the pre-production phase. Artists work under the supervision of the Lead Artist. They create art assets for the game according to the specification and they are usually responsible for managing those assets. Some Graphic Artists specialise in the design of human figures and characters, others in buildings and landscapes, and some in textures for 3D objects. Graphic Artists must be aware of the technical constraints and capabilities of the platform that the game will be played on.

Special Effects Artist £25,000-£32,000

Visual Effects Artist, Cinematics Artist

Special Effects Artists specialise in the visual elements of a game, such as explosions, smoke and water.

Technical Artist £25,000-£32,000

Senior Technical Artists, Lead Technical Artist

The Technical Artist acts as a bridge between the artists and programmers working on a game. They ensure art assets can be easily integrated into a game without sacrificing either the overall artistic vision or exceeding the technical limits of the chosen platform. One large part of the job involves keeping up-to-date in changes in technology, both in terms of console hardware, art packages and new techniques. The Technical Artist is expected to be able to create custom tools to improve the efficiency of their team. This is usually carried out using the scripting languages included in the main modeling and animation packages. Technical Artists will also have an overseeing role when it comes to providing feedback or debugging complex assets such as character skeleton rigs and skinning systems.

Animator £20,000-£42,000

Senior Animator, Lead Animator, Animation Manager

Animators in the games industry are responsible for the portrayal of movement and behaviour. Most often this is applied to give life to game characters and creatures, but sometimes animations are also applied to other elements such as objects, scenery, vegetation and environmental effects. Specialist software packages are used to create the animations, which are used for both automated or ‘in game’ behaviours and predefined sequences or ‘cut scenes’.

Outsource Manager £25,000-£40,000

Outsource Production Manager, External Art Manager

The Outsource Manager is responsible for ensuring the successful delivery of the elements of a game that have been subcontracted to another developer, on time and within budget. They control the financial and other resources needed for outsourced elements of a project and co-ordinate the work of the sub contracted developer, making sure that the quality and vision of the game is maintained, whatever problems may arise.

Asset Manager £20,000-£32,000

Asset Managers are responsible for managing the collection of graphic files, movie files, sound files, music files that are used to make a game.